Filing the AQHA Duplicate Certificate Form: Fees, Mailing, and Next Steps

To replace a lost, stolen, or destroyed American Quarter Horse registration certificate, complete the AQHA duplicate certificate form, attach five current photos of the horse, and mail it with a $50 fee (for AQHA members) to the association’s Amarillo, Texas office. Most rejections come from small mistakes: too few photos, a missing signature on Part I, or sending the wrong fee for your membership status. Everything below walks you through what to collect, how to fill in each section, and where it goes.

First, Make Sure You Actually Need a Duplicate

AQHA treats duplicates and replacements as two different requests. A duplicate is for a certificate that is completely gone, meaning lost, stolen, or destroyed beyond recognition. A replacement is for a certificate that is damaged but still shows either the horse’s registered name or registration number.¹

If you still have the physical remains and the horse can be identified from them, skip the duplicate form entirely. Mail the damaged certificate to AQHA with a note requesting a replacement and a $25 fee.¹ If the damage leaves neither the name nor the number readable, the duplicate process is the right path.

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull everything together before you sit down with the form. One missing item usually means a round trip through the mail.

Current AQHA membership. A general membership costs $65 per year. Non-members can still file, but the fee rises to $115 and includes a one-year membership.²³
Five current photos of the horse. One of each side, one from the front, one from the back, and one three-quarter view. They need to be clear enough for AQHA staff to compare markings against the registry record.¹
The horse’s registered name and registration number. If you don’t have the number written down, check old show records, veterinary files, or Coggins paperwork. It often appears there.
The fee. $50 for members, $115 for non-members.³

Filling Out the Form

Download the duplicate certificate form from the AQHA website.⁴ It has a header, two statement sections, a markings description, and a payment block. Whether you complete both statement sections depends on who actually lost the certificate.

Header and Horse Identification

At the top, enter the mailing address for the new certificate, your AQHA ID number, and the horse’s registered name and registration number. Check the spelling of the registered name against any paperwork you still have. AQHA matches this against their database, and a typo can delay the request.

Part I: Record Owner’s Statement

Part I is required in every case and must be signed by the record owner, no matter who lost the certificate. You select the reason it is missing. Options include losing it yourself, never receiving it from AQHA, or having mailed or delivered it to another person. If you gave the certificate to someone else, you need to identify who received it.¹ An indemnification agreement sits above the signature line, so read it before signing.

Part II: When Someone Else Lost It

Part II applies only when the certificate was lost by someone other than the record owner, such as a trainer, buyer, or agent. That person completes Part II with their own account of what happened and signs it separately. If the certificate passed through more than one set of hands before disappearing, every person in that chain of custody needs to provide a written statement describing when they received and passed along the certificate.¹ Requests often stall here, because tracking down a previous handler takes time. Start early.

Markings Description and Diagram

The second page asks for a written description of the horse’s color, sex, leg markings, head markings, eye color, mane and tail color, and any scars, brands, or tattoos. A horse outline diagram follows, where you draw all white markings with solid dark lines and mark the location of any scars or brands. AQHA staff compare your description, your diagram, and your five photos against the original record to confirm it is the same horse. Inconsistencies among the three are a common cause of follow-up requests.

Fees and Payment

The standard duplicate fee is $50 for AQHA members and $115 for non-members.³ AQHA accepts checks, money orders, and Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. If you are paying by card, fill out the payment section on the form itself.

Need it fast? AQHA offers rush handling for an extra $100 per certificate, which gets your request processed within two to four working days. Mark the outside of the mailing envelope “Special Handling Service Requested” and include the rush fee on top of the standard duplicate fee. The rush charge does not include overnight return shipping, which is a separate add-on.³

Where to Send Everything

Mail the completed form, all five photos, and your payment to:

AQHA
P.O. Box 200
Amarillo, TX 79168⁵

For overnight or express delivery, which you will want for a rush request, use the physical address:

American Quarter Horse Association
1600 Quarter Horse Dr.
Amarillo, TX 79104⁵

AQHA accepts emailed registration applications for some transactions, but the duplicate certificate process does not appear to offer a digital submission option based on current AQHA guidance. Plan to mail a physical package.

What to Expect After You Mail It

AQHA does not publish a standard processing time for duplicate certificate requests on its current fee schedule or help pages. The rush service guarantees processing within two to four working days for an additional $100, which gives you a rough sense of how much faster that is than the standard queue.³ If a show entry or sale closing depends on the paperwork, the rush option is worth the cost.

Once AQHA verifies the information and matches your markings against the registry record, a new certificate is generated and mailed to the address you provided. Issuing the duplicate voids any previous version of the certificate for official AQHA business.

If the Record Owner Has Died

If you bought or inherited a horse and the person listed as the record owner has died, estate documents must be filed with AQHA. The authorized signer for the estate, usually an executor or administrator, must sign the transfer paperwork.⁶ You may need to handle a transfer of ownership and a duplicate certificate request as two separate transactions. Contact AQHA’s registration department directly in this situation. The sequence matters, because you generally cannot request a duplicate in someone else’s name until you have established your legal authority over the horse’s registration.

1
American Quarter Horse Association. Replacement vs. Duplicate Certificate
2
American Quarter Horse Association. AQHA Memberships – Become a Member
3
American Quarter Horse Association. AQHA Fees
4
American Quarter Horse Association. How Do I Request a New Registration Certificate if My Registration Certificate Was Lost or Destroyed
5
American Quarter Horse Association. Contact Info
6
American Quarter Horse Association. Transferring an American Quarter Horse’s Ownership